Oral health perception among officers and men of the Nigerian prisons service, Abuja

Objective: To determine oral health perception among officers and men of the Nigeria Prison Service, Abuja. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of officers and men in Prison headquarters and Kuje command in Abuja, Nigeria, was conducted between January and May 2009 using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A total of 407 prison officers constituting 57.0% males and 66.6% senior officers participated in this study. Only 15.7% of the respondents had good oral health knowledge. Oral health knowledge was not significantly associated with age, sex, and designation of staff ( P >0.05). More than half (52.8%) of the respondents exhibited positive attitude to oral health and this was not significantly associated with age, sex, and designation of staff ( P >0.05). More than half (53.3%) of the respondents cleaned their teeth with toothbrush and toothpaste in this study; however, only about one-third (32.4%) of the respondents indulge in twice-daily tooth brushing. This practice was significantly higher among younger staff ( P =0.009), junior cadre staff ( P =0.001), and males ( P =0.931). Only 27.5% of the respondents have never visited the dentist. Oral conditions among the respondents were toothache (55.5%), gingival bleeding (61.2%), and mouth odor (47.2%). Perceived high cost of treatment and fear of dental instruments are the most commonly identified barriers to oral health utilization. Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge, negative attitude, and suboptimal practices regarding oral health were noted among the respondents. Gingival bleeding, toothache, and mouth odor were highly prevalent among the studied Prison staff. Dentist visit practice among the studied Prison staff was low with barriers as high cost of dental treatment, fear of dental instruments, no dental clinics nearby, and no time to visit the dentist.